Spilled Coffee

Tasty food for thought:
You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.
Why did you spill coffee?
“Well because someone bumped into me, of course!”
Wrong answer.
You spilled the coffee because there was _coffee_ in your cup.
Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled _tea_.

*Whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out.*

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

*So we have to ask ourselves... “what’s in my cup?”

I “borrowed” this from the internet. I do not know who the original writer was, but I cannot take any credit for it.

I feel like the idea is really good to consider. I know that life often “bumps” us, and invariably, something spills out. When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Or anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions?

The Bible tells us that what is in our heart is what will come out. This is true, not only of our mouth, but also our attitude that shows to others. Some might say that nothing bad comes out of their mouth, but their attitude is noticeably angry or bitter. The Bible deals a lot with our attitude.

Jesus tells us in Luke 6:45 that “for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” While we can often fake our way in life, when reality hits, what is really inside will come out. You might think that you have your emotions under control, but the truth is that our old nature is not very nice.

In Jeremiah 17:9 we read that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” He then goes on to tell us that God knows what is in our heart. He knows even better than we do, because He sees what we don’t want to admit.

So, what do we do about this? Do we really want to spill nasty things, or do we want to spill good things when life “bumps” us? If we are serious about our relationship with Jesus, then we want others to see Him in our lives, and there is no better time for that than when things have not gone our way.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” His desire was that whatever came out of his mouth would be acceptable in God’s sight which is what matters the most.

So, how do we get to that point? It is actually pretty simple, although not necessarily easy. If you are a believer, you have the life of Christ in you. The increase of the new life in us is the only way to change what is in our hearts. Romans clearly tells us that we have to yield to that life of Christ if we want to live an overcoming life.

Paul encourages us to allow that to be our way of living.

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” 1Corinthians 6:20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

In order to yield to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will need to feed on God’s Word. Proverbs 4:21-23 “Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Yielding to the Holy Spirit will work in us the fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22-23. This is why it is not possible to just make ourselves react better. Our reaction to the circumstances of life is a result of the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” As He works to increase the life of Christ in us, the fruit comes out and is seen by others.

Gordon Crook